Category Archives: Aidan Turner

As I try to keep my grubby fingers on multiple fandom pulses, a while back I came across this interesting piece of news:

Benedict Cumberbatch is set to play Richard III in the second series of Shakespeare’s History for BBC2.

Ordinarily, one could skim over this little morsel if it wasn’t for the fact that playing the role of Little Richie Plantagenet, Yo! it’s York in the House, has been a dream of Armitage for some time, a goal he has mentioned in countless interviews throughout the years and I am too lazy to link to a single one of them, so you are welcome.

It got me thinking about what it must be like to mold your career at a time when another British actor, especially one younger than you, seems to be thriving, even making it onto Time 100 Most Influential People list.

Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the direction in which Richard’s career is heading (seriously, chuffed as chips or rather Chops!) and I like the fact that being an Armitage Admirer Well-wisher still feels like a member of an exclusive club with a well-kept secret of exquisite taste in men, but when you’re vying for the same parts, heading to the same auditions as the likes of Cumberbatch or Hiddleston, when you stand back and watch their notoriety soar, does it smarm a bit?

To what extent do you compare yourself and your opportunities, casting options, accomplishments to others?

Although I would really dislike the notion that RA is pushing for a glitzy Hollywood career and therefore abandoning projects that made me fall for him in the first place, I can’t help but wonder if he ever questions why them and not him.

Some projects that we felt would be perfect for Richard but went to another actor are easier to swallow, like casting Aidan Turner in Poldark, with others having another actor portray Matthew Clairmont in A Discovery of Witches would be much harder to accept (seriously, have you read it? Matthew is perfect for Armitage), but having Cumberbatch play Richard III feels…personal…

Don’t get me wrong, Cumberbatch is huge right now and it makes sense that if the producers would jump at the chance to cash in on that.

I have little doubt he will do a superb job and I will certainly be amongst the swarm of people who know that anything Ben is in is definitely worth checking out as the man does not disappoint.

Then there are those arguments that maybe RA is just a little long in the tooth to play the king who died at 32, that this particular ship may well have sailed.

But a part of me, the one that is blinded by the sense of my very own distorted need for justice, the fan who wants Armitage to make him dreams come true, is disappointed and my little naughty fangirling green-eyed monster is having a field day.

An image of what could have been and, hopefully may still be, after all Frodo did take the ring to Mount Doom against all odds, right?

Oh, and just so you know- had you chosen me Queen of the World like I have requested repeatedly, not only would you have Fridays off from work, but I’d also give Armitage the right of dibs on every single Richard III project.

In other words, if you liked it then you should have put a crown on it…

The thing I like about epic films like The Hobbit is that, apart from your favourite actor (will the sexy Richard Armitage please stand up…), you become acquainted, and interested in, new faces.

Although we’re all about Thorin Thorin Thorin!, I think we’ve fallen for the other dwarves and it’s interesting to learn about their past and future projects.

I’ve mentioned Aidan Turner before, and how much I enjoyed watching Being Human and Desperate Romantics and how Aidan is the sexiest thing to come out of Ireland. Full stop.

Let me just pop a refresher pic here.

I would Kili to run my fingers through those beautiful curls and since he’s chopped them off I may actually be able to buy them on ebay 😉

Today I’m writing about another dwarf, one that is attached to the hip (and other parts if you’re a fan of Durincest…) to Kili and Thorin.

I had no idea I’d enjoy spending my evenings with Dean O’Gorman!

Here’s how it all went down.

In spring I start accumulating things to watch during my free summer months.

It’s usually an ad hoc process getting my hands on things either recommended, chosen because of a specific actor, anything with the BBC stamp on it or featuring people in frilly costumes etc.

When Magzy and I watch stuff during this time I have to be careful with what I suggest.

Unfortunately, she doesn’t share my passion for costume dramas and such, so I have to maintain a healthy balance between what my heart desires and what she’ll put up with.

After two great choices- The IT Crowd andHomeland, and two we stopped watching after an episode or two- Black Books and Miranda, I knew I had to serve up something good or pay the consequences and bear her wrath!

After much deliberating (seriously, it was close to 78 seconds!) I finally popped on The Almighty Johnsons.

It was a bold choice as I had only seen 3 episodes a while back when I was home sick (not homesick…), it’s a Kiwi production and the main plot seems a bit dodgy.

I needn’t have worries because we’re loving it 🙂

A NZ fantasy comedy/drama television series, it follows the Johnson family which consists of four brothers and a hippy cousin (ah, but is he?).

This isn’t an ordinary bunch of amusing misfits- they are actually reincarnations of Norse gods who have lost most of their powers and need to venture on a quest to restore their position in the pantheon.

Matters are complicated by the existence of goddesses who are bent of maintaining the present order and will stop at nothing to keep the brothers from reclaiming their powers.

Gods are fickle creatures and the appearance of Thor and Loki does not make matters any better.

The series is very funny, the producers rely on witty dialogue and good acting/plots to keep viewers entertained, so don’t expect any fancy CG to move things along.

Although the quest to reclaim their powers is at the heart of the story, we also follow the characters as they try to deal with very human issues.

We’ve just started season two (the third is now airing in NZ) and it’s a breath of fresh air.

The accent needs some getting used to.

We marvel at how words are pronounced, like in the one scene where O’Goman calls his brother an eeg!

The heck is an eeg, we thought.

He goes on to say: Like an eeg you need to get layed 😉

Guess he meant egg!

The brothers are lovable, and O’Gorman’s playboy character provides comic relief.

Anders is the reincarnation of the god Bragi, the poet who uses his voice to manipulate people.

By people I mean leggy blonds and by manipulate I mean get them in the sack.

Although you’ll catch yourself thinking: He’s so little, what I like is they don’t try to disguise the fact that Dean resembles a dwarf in stature, and it certainly doesn’t take away from his alluring persona.

No Tom Cruise shoe lifts here!

He is one lean mean (clad in expensive suits) seductive machine.

What can I say? Bragi’s got game and doesn’t mind bragging about it!

This is one series to watch and it’s available on YT, so do yourself a favour and go play with the gods!

I’m still spending (or do I mean wasting???) my free time on tumblr, so here’s an interesting bunch of links between LOTR and The Hobbitwhich you may have missed (too busy drooling and such at the hsheer dwarf hotness on your screen).

Yup, I’ve seen the whole LOTR trilogy close to 20 times and I missed most of them too 🙂

I’ve tracked Aidean, meaning stories about the actors playing Kili and Fili (tread carefully, it gets very graphic), Bagginshield (stories about Bilbo and Thorin, especially in a romantic light), and I’ve checked out Durincest, which is pretty self-explanitory and not really my cup of tea.

I was going to write a post about Hobbit/dwarf fanfic you can encounter, but decided that it’s an individual choice of each and every reader to acknowledge or ignore it.

I was determined not to venture into that territory, although deep down inside I knew that sooner or later I’d break, and of course I did.

When I went to see The Hobbitfor the third time I realized that the fanfic had influenced the way I viewed ceratin relationships in the movie, but perhaps the less said about that right now, the better…

If you’re also following the Hobbit fanfic and would like to share your thoughts or a link to a favorite one, please do 🙂

Talking about brooding beauty, Dean O’Gorman (Fili) took a series of photographs of some of The Hobbitcast, including Turner, where they portray Vietnam soldiers.

The pacifist in me is seriously conflicted!

Here’s how actor/photographer/painter O’Gorman explains the thought behind the shoot:

“I’m not trying to trick anybody, but I’m just trying to play with the idea of how you feel about something that is not real but is made to seem real? Movies do it all the time, but often within photography I find it’s approached with quite an obvious parody or irony, I wanted to try to be more sincere.”

If you have a moment, check out Dean’s page and the other photos from the series.

As most of you probably know I made the decision to step away from the madness of The Hobbit promotional tour, and now I’m in the delicious position of receiving a daily dose of new (well, new to me anyway…) RA and dwarf news.

Talk about a gift that keeps on giving 😉

I was browsing through the pictures taken on the 12th December, 2012 when The Duke of Cambridge attended the 65th Royal Film Performance 2012, at the Odeon in Leicester Square, London (and curtseying while I was doing so, you know, just to stick to protocol…).

Prince William stands at 6′ 3″, creating an interesting effect which I haven’t seen before since I’ve followed (obsessed, drooled, gone crazy over, whatever you choose to call it…) Richard Armitage.

At 6′ 2″ (and a disputable/questionable half…quick, someone bring me a tape measure) it seems Richard isn’t looking down at someone for a change.

Here’s a better pic from Me+Richard where you’ll find a plethora of other pictures capturing this moment.

Although William strikes a dashing pose, I think Richard has him beat in the regal department , so nice try Duke, but I’ll stick to my Prince Charming if you don’t mind…

William can keep his titles and palaces, I know whose hairline I’d like to run my fingers through.

In the battle of the Roman nose, I smell anti-royalistic moods.

Talking about the Armitage nose, the lovely lady in the black dress standing to Richard’s right is apparently his mother (although I’m not sure it’s ever been confirmed), but she looks proud as punch, and why shouldn’t she?

Mrs Armitage actually looks so much like my mother, I think I need to talk to a shrink to analyze how I feel about that (OK, I don’t actually see one, but it is eery as all heck!).

Back to the topic of the nice lady, this reminds me of the interview for a Polish breakfast show Dzień Dobry TVN (it’s the second clip or watch below) where she’s asked who he called first when he found out he’d be playing Thorin as the film had just got the green light (at 2:02).